Själ

As the gap between the pair closed, a flickering thought interrupted the swarm of pain, anger, and relief that had consumed the girl:  she's not moving.  The mountain stood still before her, an oddity given the fury that had been coursing through the princess only a moment before.  The bigger mare had at least tried to dodge Sjal's last few attacks - so why wasn't she moving now?  But there was no time to puzzle through the stranger's reasoning, no time to change her mind - she was approaching too rapidly, and though she had lifted her horn away from her opponent, it was far too late for her to duck and run.

She was no more than a few lengths from the demigoddess when she realized that the mare was gathering up more dirt and mud; alarms rang in the back of her mind, but despite her best efforts, her body seemed to have decided to finish out the fight on its own.  And so it was that as the shield of earth grew more compact, the princess flung herself closer; it was almost as though she thought that if she jumped into the blow, it would be less painful.  Regardless of her muddled reasoning (she was tired, and she was sore, and it was making her thoughts scatter like roaches when the light comes on), she jumped forward and the stranger thrust the earthen clump at her, and it did not feel good.

The mud and dirt exploded against the lower part of the unicorn's shoulder, eliciting a grunt from her as she stumbled slightly, thrown off more by the weight of the shield than its ability to harm her.  Still, her shoulder was set ablaze with a sharp, jarring pain, though somehow the girl was still able to turn and swing her hind legs into a kick that landed against the stranger's barrel.  She cantered a few steps away, limping slightly as the stabbing in her shoulder faded to a dull throb, exulting (arduously) at successfully defending herself against the mountainous hybrid.  At the sound of the stranger's voice, the girl slowed to a stop and turned to face her opponent.  Her movements were stiff and pained, and she fought to keep her exhaustion out of her face.

Ansgar lifted herself from the dirt, shaking unceremoniously, fur and feathers blurring together as she attempted to shake away the lingering pain in her muscles.  With a suspicious glance toward the dragon (who's to say this wasn't a trick, a diversion, meant to lull them into a false sense of security before destroying them launching a new set of attacks?) before slinking sulkily toward her bonded.  The griffin slipped into the unicorn's shadow, taking a seat between her forelegs as she began to clean her dirtied fur, grunting and growling as she bumped a bruise or a sore muscle every now and then.

"Good spar," the stranger had said.  "Good" - by whose standards?  As far as the unicorn could tell, neither of them were in particularly "good" shape, now had either of them clearly bested the other (she was a bit vain, after all - she would never admit to being worse than an opponent, though she was certainly not convinced that she was better, either).  Even so, the girl could see the value in the experience - she had learned much, and this was only her first time!  She eyed the long scrape along the other mare's side proudly, only slightly disappointed to see that it seemed to already be on the mend.  And that was only a small taste of what she could do!

Finally, she nodded.  "It was."  She paused.  She would need to find shelter at the very least, though she would have liked to have known a healer who could check her and Ansgar's injuries.  A mental sigh chased away the pointless wish.  She was herdless and friendless (at least for the most part), and she would find no help for her current predicament.  "Thanks," she added, no animosity in her voice, though her neutral tone did little to mask the lingering pain of her injuries.  "Let's do it again sometime."

"Talk."

Words :: 693
Attack :: Closing post.

--Ansgar.--